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The city by Stella Gemmell
I can’t remember if I have already reviewed this, but as I’ve just re-read it, I’ll re-review it as well. It’s a pretty solid, if rather grim, effort. I got a bit more out of it this time around, because I caught on earlier to the way SG dances around with describing the same bits of time as seen and experienced by different people. Plus, it was just more understandable second time around. It’s a dense plot. I could only think of one plot hole, which I will keep to myself. The characters are good, and you certainly empathise with some of them. As I say, it’s a bit grim: you won’t find much to smile about in here. But if you like strong fantasy with a huge bodycount, you’ll probably enjoy this. If SFF is not your cup of tea, you probably wouldn’t. Oh, and I found a couple of proofreadery things that I could not resist putting up on my errata page on my editorial site.
The case of the gilded fly by Edmund Crispin
Edmund Crispin wrote nine murder mystery novels starring his sleuth Gervase Fen. A source within CIEP recommended them to me. The only one I could find on a quick search of Amazon was The Case of the Gilded Fly which happens to be the first of the nine. So what was it like? First, it is set in 1940 in Oxford. Therefore at the start of WWII, although that hardly impacts on the story, apart from the need for blackouts. Let me compare TCoTGF with Agatha Christie's books (bearing in mind that I have only read one of Crispin's so far). The quality of the writing is better. I could imagine somebody reading a Crispin book because of its smooth literary style, clever descriptions and realistic settings. Christie gets what she needs to onto the page, but you'd scarcely call her a literary whizz. The characters of Crispin are better drawn than Christie's. Perhaps that's just a consequence of my first point. For both authors, the characters are really placeholders for plot points or red herrings – but still, Crispin's have more character than Christie's. Crispin's CoTGF contains a lot of droll humour and I imagine his other books do too. There's something to smile about on nearly every page, and some laugh out loud moments. Christie can do humour (read the start of Orient Express, for example), and Poirot does make the occasional quip or dry comments, but not to the extent of Crispin and his characters. So far all the nods have gone to Crispin... but then we come to plot. Agatha Christie isn't known as the Queen of Mystery for nothing. Her plots are almost all immaculate and very, very difficult to figure out as a reader. Crispin's (on the basis of TCoTGF are not nearly as good. I managed to work out the how of the murder quite easily – although not, admittedly, the who. Plus Gervase Fen said he'd worked out who had done it 'within three minutes' of finding the body. This was interesting, I suppose, but then why didn't he tell the police? What actually happens in the story doesn't hang together as well as Agatha Christie's stories. In TCoTGF there is a lot of waffle about ethics, about whether Gervase Fen should tell the police who had done it, or not. This is clearly just a device to extend the novel, and I found it a bit tiresome. Having said that, I enjoyed the book and will no doubt embark on a search for more of them. If you'd like to read an elegantly written and amusing semi-mystery story for which you have to willingly suspend your disbelief, go for it. But if you prefer a good brain tester with a strong, believable plot, stick with good old Agatha.
The Virginian by Owen Wister
I must have read this book a few decades ago, but had forgotten what it was like. So when I saw it mentioned in a blurb or blog somewhere, I thought I’d better read it again. I’m glad I did. It was written in 1902, but is set in the 1870s. It is popularly supposed to be the first of the great westerns - and indeed, even while I was reading it I found myself spotting what you might call forward references, things that other westerns (books and films) have used since Owen Wister wrote this mini masterpiece. Because that’s what it is. It’s beautifully written. All of what we now see as traditional elements of a western are there. But what struck me was two things I haven’t seen in other blurbs. One, the sense of humour stands out. As I’ve said before, humour doesn’t usually travel well through time. Three Men in a Boat has always been my takeaway for a novel whose humour has worn well - and now I must add The Virginian to the list. And second, at it’s heart, this is a love story. So I really, really enjoyed this fine old book, and strongly suggest you add it to your To Read list.
The stand by Stephen King
The Stand kicks of with a worldwide plague killing off about 95% of the world’s population (although we focus on the US for the purposes of this book). And then some spooky events start up, resulting in good vs evil Armageddon of sorts. For obvious reasons, the premise of the book is a bit scary, during covid-19 days. The Stand is indubitably one of the best books on my shelves. This must be about the fourth time I’ve read it, and even though I knew what was coming almost all the way through, I still enjoyed it. It’s a rare book that can do that. Mind you, this time around I spotted a handful of typos! You can find them on my editorial site, on the errata page. But don’t let that stop you from reading the book, if you haven’t already. In my opinion, King is an underrated author, and this is his best work.
Incident at twenty mile by Trevanian
After reading a western and Shibumi I came upon the fact that Trevanian had written a ‘western’. Naturally I could not resist. It took a bit of tracking down, but I eventually secured a second-hand copy. It’s a peculiar book. The characterisations are brilliant, and the setting realistic. Somehow I expected it to... bubble along a bit more quickly than it did. Maybe I’m turning into a teenager with a limited attention span. One thing that did strike me was that Trevanian is not shy of giving his characters strong political biases and motivations, and some of the monologues by the baddie of the book uncannily resemble some of the problems the USA is experiencing today. And the ending of the book was a trifle unexpected. I liked it well enough. In fact, I liked the whole book well enough, although it wasn’t the masterpiece I’d been hoping for. I doubt you’ll see it anywhere soon, but if you do and it’s going cheap, it’s worth a read.
Knave in hand by Laurence Janifer
This is a short SF novel penned in 1978. Despite its laconic style, it rolls along at quite a rate. Lots happens. Lots of it could have happened on Earth, but no, it all happens on a slightly strange planet light years away. And lots of it happens in the protagonist’s mind, worrying down strands of plot into ever more unlikely scenarios, until the whole mystery is revealed a few pages from the end. For mystery it is: the planet’s ‘crown jewels’ have been stolen, for no apparent reason, and then people start to be bumped off, also for no apparent reason. It’s entertaining enough, but no classic. If you can pick up a copy for 20p somewhere, it will pass the time on a train trip or flight; but don’t expect anything Heinleinesqe.
Shamus dust by Janet Roger
Shamus Dust rocks along at a terrific pace, with characters and one-liners that can't help but put you in mind of Chandler's Philip Marlowe. If I had to give this a score, it would be about 90 out of 100, which I guess would translate into 5 stars in normal rankings. I only spotted a couple of typos – pretty good by today's standards. The style is unashamedly US style, with US words and US spellings preferred. This grated a little, as the story is set in 1947 post-war London, and it occasionally forgot itself (eg both 'cab' and 'taxi' are used). I also thought the book was a little long... but that might just be me. That's it for the negatives. All in all, it's a very good read. The scene-setting is good; you can visualise the places where the action takes place very easily. For that matter, you can visualise the action very easily. The plot unravels slowly, complicated enough to keep you on the ball, straightforward enough to follow if you keep your thinking cap on. The characters are well drawn, though possibly a bit stereotyped. But it's the fizz of the writing that's the biggest plus: 'You never had a wife?' 'I'd have remembered.' There's a nugget on almost every page. And speaking of nuggets: In the Dome Room, you eat with enough silver lying about to start another Colorado rush. Heh, I'll remember that one for a while. In fact, I'll probably remember the book as a whole for a while. It's pretty clear the author knows what she's about. The archaeological details are good enough to convince me, and as a chess player of sorts I like the last chapter being called 'Alekhine in the Endgame.' A nice note to finish on. You can buy Shamus Dust on Amazon, and I imagine in other places too. It's worth the outlay.
Of good and evil by Ernest K. Gann
This is an old book, published in 1963 and part of my collection of Companion Books. So I must have read this before, but I confess I don’t remember it. I do remember other books by Ernest K Gann. In the Company of Eagles, for example. He’s always been one of my favourite authors, and Of Good and Evil did not disappoint. It tells the story of a city police force and some private citizens, over the course of just one day. It’s brilliantly done, and the book is sufficiently old that some of the laws and prejudices of the time are plainly on view. The city, according to the introduction, is probably San Francisco, although that is not explicitly stated in the book. If you get the chance to pick this up in a secondhand bookshop, go for it. It’s a rare treat.
Nevernight trilogy by Jay Kristoff
The three books in this trilogy are called Nevernight, Godsgrave, and Darkdawn. They are worth reading. In one sense, they are nothing new. Hero (heroine, actually) learns fighting skills while on the pursuit of revenge, meets various warrior friends and enemies, battles through to the end. Does she succeed in balancing her difficult life? You’ll have to read the books to see. A couple of things make the story stand out. One, the author has great fun inserting footnotes addressed to the reader. They are almost all cynical and amusing. Two, there’s a certain amount of sex described in close-up detail, making this definitely an adult fantasy. And three, the heroine is rather different from many heroes I’ve read about in very many fantasies. I enjoyed all three books. It took me a little while to get into Book 1, but once I was there, I read away quite happily. I didn’t like the ending of Book 3, which is a shame, since everything else works very well. Verdict? Yes, worth a few pounds to get this and add it to your collection.
The Daniel Hawthorne books by Anthony Horowitz
The two books in questions are The Sentence is Death and The Word is Murder. I believe there’s a third book due out sometime. So Daniel Hawthorne is Horowitz’s detective. He’s not especially pleasant but he does go around solving mysteries. The twist is that Hawthorne’s ‘Watson’ is Horowitz himself, who follows Hawthorne around, recording what happens, ready to write a book about it all. This works reasonably well. What doesn’t work quite as well is that, apparently, this is Horowitz’s efforts to write ‘adult’ novels (he is, of course, famous for writing for young adults). It doesn’t quite come off, in my opinion: the contents might be more adult, but the style of writing is still young adult. That said, I enjoyed the books and enjoyed trying to figure out what was going on. Horowitz can cook up a mean plot. I certainly wouldn’t dissuade anyone from reading these two books... and no doubt I will find myself the third one sometime in the future.
The specials by Louis Charbonneau
This is an old SFBC volume, published in 1966. It actually holds up rather well. It puts me in mind of an early James Bond with an SF twist. Just about everyone in the world takes a happy pill. Most people are just - well, happy - but a few become ‘sensitives’ or ‘specials’. Our hero is a sensitive working for the organisation that has cornered the market in the drug. The overall plot is a little predictable by today’s standards, but given that it’s well over 50 years old, that’s not altogether surprising. This isn’t a book you are likely to see anywhere but in a second-hand shop somewhere, but if you do, I can quite recommend it.
The red house mystery by A.A.Milne
Yes, that's the A.A.Milne. I discovered the existence of this book by reading something on the internet and thought, well, this could be interesting. I mentioned the book on my CIEP forum, and a couple of people responded to the effect that it wasn't very good and AA should have stuck to children's stories. They were right. It's pretty bad. I couldn't help but think AA kept writing himself into corners and quickly invented new facts to get out of them. It's not often that I recommend not getting a book, but this is one of those times.
The nevernight chronicle by Jay Kristoff
This is a trilogy, comprising Nevernight, Godsgrave and Darkdawn. It took me a little while to get into it, as I was thinking, hey ho, here we are with another swords and sorcery fantasy story. But I soon discovered it is more than that. The heroine of the story is complex and compelling; there's more to the plot than you might think; and the world-building is very believable.I confess I wasn't convinced by the ending – but no spoilers here. You'll just have to read it for yourself. And I think I can safely recommend the series, even for crusty old fantasy readers like me. Oh. I see I already reviewed this trilogy a while back. Luckily I said the same then as I have just now, which is a relief. At least I’m consistent.
To sleep in a sea of stars by Christopher Paolini
This is a big, pretty much hard SF book that takes a little while to get going. In some ways it reminds me of The Expanse, in that a small spaceship with a tight-knit crew become the central point of much of the story. It took me quite a few attempts to get into the story... the situation at the start feels a bit flat. When the story takes off, my only criticism is that humanity has been touring around space for years, finding only a handful of ancient ruins on other planets, but within a few hundred pages we find ourselves surrounded by aliens and in the middle of a space war. Thinking back, I can see why the book started where it did... but the circumstances and characters at that point still feel a bit flat. I think the end of the story is a bit over the top, too. Again, I can see why what happens, happens, but I am left with an uneasy feeling that to justify the changes to the characters and humanity in general, you'd need a trilogy of big books, not just one. It feels a bit rushed. This is apparently Paolini's first adult novel, so maybe he has a little to learn. Having said all that, I certainly wouldn't suggest the book isn't worth reading. Overall, I enjoyed it. Just wait for the paperback and save a few pounds!.